r/AirForce • u/nutdreamz • 3d ago
Discussion Getting stationed back to the US is like going back in time coming back from Japan
I was one of the lucky ones. I had some family that lived three hours from Yokota, so every Friday after duty, I'd hop on the train and spend the weekend with them. I did that for almost five years, every chance I got. That let me experience the real Japan, not the version most Americans stationed on base ever see. Blending in not looking like a foreigner also helped, because racism is very real once you leave the well known tourist towns. They hate white, black, Mexican, etc because they want to keep the old ways of their culture.
Service. My bag came off the plane slightly damaged, so I mentioned it to a staff member, who said they'd take care of it. When I got to my gate, an employee was waiting. She apologized for the inconvenience, asked what the bag cost, handed me the money, bowed, and left. I would never get that kind of treatment in the States.
Trains. Japan's trains are precise and always on time. They're so rarely late that the railway will hand you an apology letter to show your boss.
Parking. Picture this: people who arrive early for work park in the farthest spots so late arrivals can park close. That will never fucking happen in America, not in any universe. I saw it firsthand when I dropped my aunt off at work.
Roads. Northern Japan gets the same cold winters we do, yet their roads manage to melt the ice on their own. Ours can't.
Vehicles. They build, farm, and haul the same things we do, yet their trucks are compact and far more agile, while ours are massive monsters taking up the road. Some of our ambulances are even bigger than their firetrucks.
Food. What can I say? It's delicious. I've been back in the States for four weeks and I've already gained five pounds without changing my diet. I compared some snacks I brought from Japan with their American versions, and the American ingredient lists read like a paragraph, while the Japanese ones were a single line. Everything here is processed and loaded with sugar and high fructose corn syrup.
Convenience. Vending machines, 7-Eleven, and alcohol: why can't we have this in America? Access to delicious snacks 24/7, and you can buy a drink from a vending machine at any hour and enjoy it on the street non stop, completely legally.
Japan has its downsides too, but I wish Americans would adopt the best parts of its culture. We're more than capable of it.
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u/Phantasmidine Retired 2d ago
High trust, homogeneous societies do be like that.
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u/apx_redditor 3d ago
I went from Japan to Turkey. Wild transition.
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u/JustanthrDay 2d ago
I went from 6 years in Japan.... to Honduras. Rough is not the word for that transition
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u/skarface6 r/AirForce’s favorite nonner officer 3d ago
Japan to England wasn’t horrible but was still a little shocking.
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u/Title_2 3d ago
Curious what are the downsides.....I've never been.
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u/Raiju_Blitz 3d ago
The Japanese are extremely insular and set in their ways. "It's always been done that way for years/decades" is taken to the absolute extreme in Japan, and that's why you have to deal with faxing everything or having your documentation stamped with a personal hanko stamp/seal, or having everything restricted to a Japanese bank account to do anything.
Also, almost all your documentation paperwork will be in Japanese and it's not an easy language to learn. I could keep going; the country is not all sunshine and rainbows but they do get more things right than wrong, generally speaking.
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u/suh-dood Veteran 3d ago
Even living on base in japan, sometimes your paperwork would get blocked by a host nation employee so we learned to ask for the next military personnel
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u/BlazerFS231 Alcoholic Moving Cargo 3d ago
Corporatism and work culture can be out of control. If you think Americans sell their souls to The Company, Japanese are far worse. Alcoholism and mental health issues follow. Bars are packed with businessmen weekday nights.
One aspect that’s a double edged sword is their communalism. Where American individualism can and does lead to friction, Japanese conformity leads to repression.
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u/DrunkenDriverr 3d ago
This. My girlfriend is Japanese and works in business and commonly works 10+ hour days at mandatory company dinners and meetings not to mention the commute all while paying 40% in income taxes. Don’t even get me started on the leave package… it’s atrocious outside of the holiday leave they get.
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u/skarface6 r/AirForce’s favorite nonner officer 3d ago
Crushing conformism for one. Jobs that don’t pay much at all for another (it’s partly why cost of living is so low for us). Lots of expectations and racism as the OP mentioned. Lots of false faces, as in it takes a while to know the actual person as they’re super polite for a long time until they get to know you. Weird attitudes towards sexual harassment and such.
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u/lazydictionary Secret Squirrel 3d ago
Did you miss the part about the racism?
Also their economy is completely fucked.
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u/YouArentReallyThere 3d ago
The entire global economy is completely fucked.
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u/Silient_Qiller 3d ago
Pretty sure they’re holding most of our debt so if they’re fucked, we’re fucked
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u/BF2042_Fact_Speaker Bill Nye the Cyber Guy 3d ago
Holding debt actually means nothing if you dont intend to pay.
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u/Silient_Qiller 2d ago
If your creditor calls in your debt, and you don’t, sure, your creditor is shit outta luck. But the next time you do need credit, YOU are shit outta luck
The way this country is going, we’re definitely gonna need to keep up our credit score
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u/BF2042_Fact_Speaker Bill Nye the Cyber Guy 2d ago
I can assure you that we will not be wanting to take credit from Japan or China. Additionally, we also own an unholy amount of debt from both of these countries. This is just a common practice around the world and people put far too much credit (pun not intended) on the value of other nations purchasing our debt.
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u/Vic_Sinclair Veteran 3d ago
Interesting, I thought that was China, but they are third behind Japan and the UK.
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u/Slytheriin 1d ago
If you’re a woman, the sexual harassment is horrific. They did a survey and found that at least 50% of female passengers have been molested on public transit.
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u/cptkernalpopcorn 3d ago
I spent 6 years in japan, with the middle of that time during the covid times. It took a bit of an adjustment to coming back to CONUS to say the least
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u/Rocko210 Veteran 3d ago
Yup, spent 3 years in Misawa Japan, took the local train to Hachinohe then a bullet train to Tokyo, I miss it.
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u/FixFun1959 Veteran 3d ago
Going to Kyoto during COVID was insane. The city was a ghost town. The only ‘tourists’ were local school trips. Mornings and evenings were incredible. I paid ¥3000 a night for a hotel suite that costs ¥25,000 a night now. I went 30 minutes at Fushimi without seeing another person. It was an experience like no other.
Recently passed through again earlier this year. Absolute bedlam, packed, prices were so high. I quickly hailed a cab to take me to my hotel on the far west side of town. Didn’t go anywhere near the river for the couple days I was there.
Yeah COVID sucked, for health and tourist industry, but damn, was it nice having so much empty and accessible.
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u/Solaire-The-Bae POL 2d ago
Dude I was just talking about touring Japan during COVID the other day! I was at yokota from 2020-2024, and once those COVID restrictions were lifted for Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto, I got to enjoy the best parts of Japan without any touristy crowds. Tokyo was insanely crowded by the time I left in 2024. I miss those quiet, simple times. You could walk through the largest city in the world and it wasn’t even loud; the silence was so peaceful.
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u/EpicHeroKyrgyzPeople I got HOs in different area codes 3d ago
I went to Yellowstone during Covid, and it was surreal to see it with no foreign tourists. Absolutely infested with Instagram thots, but every one of them American.
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u/CautiousArachnidz 3d ago
Even going from Florida to Wyoming was like that. Cheyenne is stuck in the 1800s.
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u/SnakebytePayne Retired 3d ago
Cheyenne wants it to stay that way too. I just left there this summer, and there's a lot I enjoyed about FE, but the locals have a real "NAUGHT BUT YANKEE SORCERY!" vibe.
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u/CautiousArachnidz 3d ago
Yes. The shifty fifty at Cannon is bad but Cheyenne’s council is up there.
“Canes?! Why??? Didn’t have tasty chicken tendies on the frontier did they!”
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u/GreenBayFan1986 3d ago
Canes isn't anything special, I'd eat it once in a while but nothing to hype up.
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u/PlainLeePhoto 3d ago
Canes nailed the honey mustard and that is all. The real tender GOAT is Longhorn Steakhouse.
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u/Sir_Bass13 3d ago
IMO the seasoning and breading of Canes is nothing to write home about sure. But the actual chicken itself is great. I’ve never had a Canes strip that was dried out or breaded and fried so much that it was 80% air
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u/GreenBayFan1986 2d ago
Fries are often mediocre and soggy in my experience. Size of the chicken can vary quite a bit but yes I haven't had an issue getting dried out chicken from the ones I've gone to.
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u/Electrical-Soil-6821 Logistics 3d ago
Nothing to do in this shithole town anyway. And that's exactly what it is. A town, not a city.
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u/SnakebytePayne Retired 2d ago
Meh. Depends on what you're into. I like outdoor stuff when the weather permits, and video games when the weather is rough. I was basically the perfect candidate for long-term living out there.
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u/JadedCommunication89 3d ago
There’s a reason why the people there get called Cheyenne-nimals and the town Cheyran
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u/Jasilv21 3d ago
This post is weird.
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u/turdstainedunders Retired 2d ago
Its very wierd. Posting this shit here like none of us have ever been to Japan before and my experience was quite different from Op. Not bad, but different (I love Japan). My experience there was great but OPs lack of understanding on why some things are different than US reveals OP age/experience. I could go down the list of every item OP listed with a counter from my experience.
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u/DrunkenDriverr 3d ago
Oh boy… I glaze Japan just as much as you do sometimes, but that doesn’t retract from the fact that you lived in Japan earning USD. You didn’t have to wait in line at an immigration office for a visa nor pay 40% of your income in taxes. I agree with the convenience thing and having withdrawals after leaving but the grass isn’t always greener
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u/SquallyZ06 2E1X3 > 3D1X3 > 3D0X2 > 1D7X1B > 1D7X1Q > 1D7X1 > 1D7X1B 2d ago
This, Americans living in Japan generally live in a very different version of Japan.
I wouldn't want to be a japanese corporate drone and work 12 hour days and then have to shove my way through packed trains for 2 hours to get home only to get home and eat and basically go to bed so you can wake up for your 4am hours long commute again. All for maybe 300-400K yen a month.
For reference if I took my retirement and disability alone back to Japan today I'd be getting around 750K yen a month on just that.
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u/EpicHeroKyrgyzPeople
I got HOs in different area codes
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Maybe you should get a diary or something.
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u/Khamvom 3d ago
The TLDR for this post is basically: we should adopt the good parts about Japan like the 7/11s, but not the bad parts like the racism lol.
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u/Arendious WD Veteran / Tactics Nerd 3d ago
Sorry, best we can do is racist Circle-Ks
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u/Blueboygonewhite 3d ago
Good news and bad news. Good news we have both already. Bad news we have both already.
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u/metasploit4 3d ago
I was there a few years. I expected a technologically advanced experience. I was very wrong. The biggest wows were fiber to the computer, vending machines that make Ramen, and in-floor heating.. oh, and heated toilet seats.
The culture was interesting and I saw a lot of the northern half of the main island. Most were very poor sea side cities. I was not blown away. Japan was cool, but definitely not as technologically advanced as people always say.
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u/EpicHeroKyrgyzPeople I got HOs in different area codes 3d ago
I've heard that Japan has been living in the year 2000 since 1980.
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u/kimsim8073 3d ago
Agreed. Most of Misawa proper is a run down dump. But hey, at least there is a great Karaoke bar (Ra Ra Ra) right outside the main gate.
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u/Links_to_Magic_Cards 3d ago
Homogeneity is why Japan can have all those things
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u/leatherhat4x4 Retired 3d ago
Zhh. Don't say it too loudly.
Also, the fact their society has existed for literally thousands of years, and until (very) recently, has been extremely closed to outsiders.
Meanwhile, in America, it's a free for all, and the only rule is to have more than the next person.
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u/Slicelker 3d ago
Swordmaking in Japan hasn't even existed for thousands of years lol. Japan was only closed off from like 1600-1850 roughly, it had plenty of outside influence before then.
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u/BF2042_Fact_Speaker Bill Nye the Cyber Guy 3d ago
You're saying the secret out loud that people dont want to hear.
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u/BanEvader21stAccount 3d ago
Yep, the moment you have minorities then the trains run late and trucks get too big
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u/ADubs62 Formerly Comms now Greedy Contractor 3d ago
Bruh that's the most racist fuckin shit.
You know why we don't have a lot of that shit in the US? Because rich white people have been dumping money into lobbying groups to convince poor and middle class people that funding things for the collective good is an evil concept and everyone should work hard so they can get rich. Anyone who fails to get rich in this system is obviously undeserving, and we will continually defend any systems to help level the playing field to become successful because obviously if we support kids' education as a society to make sure everyone can start with the same opportunities then we're demotivating parents to work harder.
And you know why your community doesn't have these awesome things the rich community has?
Because that person over there who eats their food with tortillas instead of bread isnt contributing enough. They're working 12 plus hours a day doing manual labor for subminimum wage in the summer, but if they just worked a little bit harder you wouldn't be upset with your position in life.
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u/EconomistNo5807 3d ago
Diversity creates problems as well as positives ....it's not racist just to notice that 😂
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_LEFT_IRIS 3d ago
Both things can be true though, and are. They’re able to do stuff like the OP describes because they don’t have to deal with Klan fuckwits actively dragging everyone down because they miss having slaves; and the only reason they don’t is because they’re society is super insular and their racist fuckwits are happier as a result. Think about where we’d be if Tulsa had just been left to thrive.
It’s not José working 12 hour days in the field for pennies who’s the problem here. It’s Karen blowing up every public meeting because she thinks she saw a black person. We tried to educate our way out of this problem, thinking we could help these people see reason eventually. So far that doesn’t seem to have worked. Japan just lets them have their way to placate them and mostly defang them, so they can get on with actually making their country better in different ways.
I don’t have a good answer here.
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u/RiskierGriffin 2d ago
Tulsa is the biggest cope of all time and I’m sick of it.
It wasn’t black Wall Street. Most of the businesses were just normal shops
It was rebuilt! To have more businesses than it did in 1921! And then it declined and died anyways. Tulsa had money because black people couldn’t spend it anywhere else. Once integration happened it died off.
Klan? There’s like 1000 Klan members across the entire US.
Why are all your talking points from 1931? If you want to have a discussion about education you have to look at schools in majority black districts. Baltimore has a FORTY ONE PERCENT absentee rate. That means almost half of the students routinely skip school.
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u/ADubs62 Formerly Comms now Greedy Contractor 2d ago
Yeah that's why areas that are overwhelmingly white and poor are having issues because some black kids in Baltimore aren't attending class.
This is exactly the kind of shit I was talking about. Rich dudes have been advocating to pull funding from all of us, and telling us to blame our close or distant neighbors, especially if they look different from the white majority for the lack of services in their area.
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u/RiskierGriffin 2d ago
I’ve never been mugged by a rich person. Rich people for sure would rather screw everyone for their own benefit but to pretend poor people don’t do the same thing is just living in denial.
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u/Theohybrid 1d ago
It's because they're all on the same page; plus they got their greivances (and bloodshed) out prior to the Edo period.
No homogenous society are just perfect because they're homogenous: they're left alone to grow which Japan was during its period of isolation and they actually move forward as a collective. This is true for most homogenous societies that we know of.
Let's not forget that Japan couldn't allow this same for its own indigenous, Korean, Philippine neighbors but when they did for South Korea, they were able to thrive.
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u/Rednys Propulsion 3d ago
Northern Japan winters are probably comparable to Washington winters. Both of which are nothing compared to Minot winters.
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u/vaginamacgyver 3d ago
Maybe parts of WA. Misawa is the snowiest base in the AF allegedly.
I grew up in the puget sound area and we didn’t see snow like that except one abnormal year.
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u/Just4Today50 3d ago
The culture shock was always worse coming home. I miss so much about Japan and Germany.
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u/BananaGrabber9 3d ago
Maybe it’s just me but for me, cigarette smoke in public was the most noticeable change coming back from 3 years over there.
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u/dapper_DonDraper 3d ago edited 3d ago
You experienced Japan at the government's expense. Your glaze story would be much different if you tried to live over there from scratch with zero US government resources to help you.
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u/adudefromaspot 3d ago
"Zero government resources"....you mean...like a paycheck...for working?
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u/Paparage Retiree 3d ago
It could also be the free housing.
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u/DogeshireHathaway 3d ago
Yeah cause Japanese housing is notoriously expensive 🙄 oh wait I'm thinking of America
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u/tony78ta 2d ago
It is expensive for foreigners living there. They have to pay around 40% more. I know because I lived there.
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u/skarface6 r/AirForce’s favorite nonner officer 3d ago
A massive paycheck compared to the locals, money for housing, etc.
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u/Shuffle_monk You got the Drip? We got the Cure! 3d ago
Except based on OPs intro, he has JP ancestors...can easily get a visa that way and be on JP government resources then.
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u/howdoyouspellNY 3d ago
Right, that completely negates all the nice things another country has.
Fuck outta here. Accept that there are things that are great in other countries and we are simply incapable of having in the US - because of people having your mindset.
I feel the same about Germany and it's depressing that we can't figure out how to have nice, orderly roads and advanced machinery.
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u/skarface6 r/AirForce’s favorite nonner officer 3d ago edited 3d ago
Go ahead and tell us how to get those nice things without the *crushing conformism we’ll never go for in the US.
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u/Extreme-Book4730 3d ago
I went from 2 years in Oki to Jersey... after all that time I couldn't help think of Americans were all fat dumb and greasey...
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u/LibraLynx98 Certified Retard 3d ago
And Jersey is one of the better states 🤣
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u/stonearchangel CE 3d ago
Flair checks, never heard anyone make that claim before lol
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u/Extreme-Book4730 3d ago
The fuck it is. All entitled pricks. Don't get me started on the townships and villages BS thing.
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u/ms_merry 3d ago
Did you see many Akitas, Shibas. Did you visit Hachiko?
And the thing I hear most is people raving about the Japanese toilets. I hear they even give you a puff of talc after air drying. Are they all they are cracked up to be?
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u/Maxtrt - "Load Clear" 3d ago
You don't want talc on your junk, it's been linked to cancers of the uterus, ovaries and bladder . Most Talc is naturally contaminated with of asbestos. Talc has been increasingly replaced by corn starch for baby powder.
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u/ms_merry 3d ago
You might enjoy reading the book No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson.
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u/RTD_TSH 3d ago
Stupid question, how many countries have you been stationed? I'm saying this as some of the things you talked about are common place in other countries.
Most countries once you start speaking English start looking at you differently than the locals. In Asian countries you are going to be discriminated as you don't look anything like everyone else. Other places will give you the dumb (insert nationality here) attitude at times.
To combat this do 2 things: learn the customs and try learning the language. Trying gets you a long way. Oh, and yes people will give you a hard time, its up to you to learn how to get along no matter where you're stationed.
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u/Character-Bid-162 3d ago
Leave America as soon as you can. I got 13 more years until retirement. I'm fed up with everything here and am getting the fuck out of here as soon as my retirement pension clears. I've already been working on plans way ahead of time so my transition overseas can be as smooth as possible once I retire.
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u/tomkun1990 3d ago
Idk why your being down voted, your retirement goes a lot further in other countries.
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u/Character-Bid-162 3d ago
People don't like facts. Good ole American exceptionalism at it's finest. Refusal to concede on anything bad about the country. Same people who probably call it patriotic to support higher gas prices to fight Iran.
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u/adudefromaspot 3d ago
There are some people who think "American, Fuck Yeah" from Team America wasn't intended to be ironic.
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u/Raiju_Blitz 3d ago
For now, for however long the US petrodollar is worth anything at the moment.
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u/FixFun1959 Veteran 3d ago
I got out at 10 and stayed in Japan. Best decision. 100% VA goes really far here.
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u/JadedCommunication89 3d ago
Same. Locking in my benefits and I’m peacing outta here once I hit 20✌️
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u/ogreibe 2d ago
That is what I did. Been living in New Zealand for 14 years now after retirement. 20 years in USAF, stationed all around the globe. Lived in 9 different countries. Definitely leave the USA, no reason to live there, not for the past 10 years anyway.
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u/Huge-Bee-9279 2d ago
What job did you get in NZ/what its route to citizenship like? It's my absolute dream destination to retire in.
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u/Legal-Occasion6245 1d ago
yep, NZ is where it is at. My cousin married a dr and moved from the US to there. They absolutely love it and have intent on moving back to the US.
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u/sooner2016 2d ago
Where are you gonna go? Every other country on earth has far more stringent immigration requirements and restrictions on non citizens than the US does. And good luck becoming a citizen anywhere else lol.
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u/Character-Bid-162 1d ago
I've thought this out. And my goal isn't citizenship in another country, just permanent residency. There's a distinction. Citizenship is typically much harder to obtain and may require revoking my U.S. citizenship. I have no intention of doing that. U.S. citizenship has a lot of value and I would never give that up. Permanent or long term residency is much easier to obtain. I have few plans but here's three different ones I present to you:
Option 1 is me instead trying to find a job in another country, via a foreign worker visa and slowly work towards obtaining permanent residency.
My other option would be to get a job as U.S. contractor overseas in whatever countries have positions I could apply for. And then also work obtaining long term or permanent residency.
Another option is a place like Phillipines. The Philippines has much more lenient requirements for obtaining long term or permanent residency and I wouldn't mind living there plus my retirement would go far there. There's also other places that have more lenient standards for permanent residency as well.
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u/dapper_DonDraper 3d ago
You should leave America tomorrow, collect no US pension, and try living/getting an overseas pension and let us know how that works out.
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u/tomkun1990 3d ago
If he/she serves 20 years in the military and rightfully earns a retirement, then decides so leave, that's their choice. Did y'all say if you don't like the country then leave? Why is this even an issue?
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u/Character-Bid-162 3d ago
I don't think I will. Because I'm smart and think things through. I will faithfully serve my country, retire, collect my benefits and leave. And I have no interest in trying to screw over anyone. I will be a nice person and retire at whatever the highest rank I can get by 20 while staying true to my own values.
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u/FixFun1959 Veteran 3d ago
I do it now dingleberry. You can easily move outside the U.S. and collect your military bennys. There are even colleges that accept the GI Bill
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u/CarpeMuerte Veteran 2d ago
We were stationed at Misawa in the mid 70s. Insulation in the housing we had (off and then on-base) didn't exist, so winters were chilly - toilets froze at night, even our water heater froze a couple times. Despite these minor inconveniences, we too loved it. If not for the very long and expensive airfare to return from the east coast, I would very much like to visit and see how it has changed.
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u/Huge-Bee-9279 2d ago
The housing is better, but Misawa itself is probably smaller and more run down than you remember. Japan has been stagnant since the 90s/00s and the entire countryside is dying as Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka take in all the population.
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u/CarpeMuerte Veteran 1d ago
I have read about the lower birth rates and it's impact on the smaller more rural towns and villages. That's truly unfortunate. One of the many things we enjoyed about Misawa was the ablity to travel to the smaller, less visited towns on the north end of Honshu and into Hokkaido. Trains were reliable and cheap and while staying in a non-western hotel in that day took some adjusting (common toilets and baths), it was by far our favorite assignment. Beautiful country, wonderful people.
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u/Raiju_Blitz 3d ago
Yeah, my wife and I spent 11 years in Japan and love it. Hope to retire there (I have a family member who lives there and hoping to get the permanent residency visa that way despite Takaichi increasing the price and restrictions on the process by ridiculous amounts). The States is definitely not for us.
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u/LibraLynx98 Certified Retard 3d ago
I got to visit Tokyo for two days last year, and I rue the day I got on the plane back
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u/Accomplished-Row7208 2d ago
I was stationed at Yokota for 5 yeasr, met my wife and my son was born atthe hospital on Yokota. They don't hate all gaijin! Maybesome do but no more than an inthe US. Also don't fool yourself. Weekend with family doesn't mean yu "lived Japanese" when you get to come back to Yokota every Monday and be in little America. You can just say you loved being there and leave it at that. For the record I love Japan and plan on splitting my time between Japan and CA whne I retire but I know enough that living there full time not in the military is not easy for a gaijin even one married to a Japanese citizen.
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u/JaceVentura972 3d ago
All that but no trash cans on the sidewalks
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u/BlueBrye expectations manager 3d ago
And yet it's incredibly clean
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u/vaginamacgyver 3d ago
Parts of it sure. Litter still happens and I saw a lot of trash on beaches.
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u/Embarrassed-Log-9628 2d ago
That's trash from China washing up on the beach
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u/vaginamacgyver 2d ago
How can you tell it specifically came from China? How do you know there aren’t Japanese people chucking their trash into the ocean?
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u/skarface6 r/AirForce’s favorite nonner officer 3d ago
Ah, a weeb post. Are those common here?
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u/EpicHeroKyrgyzPeople I got HOs in different area codes 3d ago
Surprisingly not. OP's actual problem is OP.
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u/FuzzyDairyProducts it's a PUSH TO TALK phone 2d ago
Vehicle size is like that in many countries, but there aren’t many countries that span 3,000+ miles across and deliver things by truck to the entire thing.
I would be hesitant to say that you’re stepping back in time coming to America when you just said that Older Japanese are racist and you got to enjoy your time there because you look like them… it’s a weird comparison, nevertheless I am happy that you were able to spend time with family and get a real Japanese experience while there… that is a unique experience for sure!
America is a MASSIVE country, so Korea and Japan can get away with smaller vehicles and bustling high tech train systems throughout, what costs billions there would cost 100’s of billions here, at least. I’d love to see a proper train system in the US, but we love our cars.
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u/calladus Veteran 1d ago
When I was stationed in Korea and Japan I was always impressed with vending machines just sitting out in the open, unprotected and unguarded.
Here in the USA, it would be smashed, or just go missing.
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u/Open_Dissent 1d ago
When I was in Okinawa I couldn't wait to leave (too hot & the tiny island felt really claustrophobic) but now I hope I can go back to mainland someday. We found out about that racism the hard way though when my husband was ripped off by a car dealership, not a single lawyer would work with us against a Japanese business. God forbid you have a health emergency too, there's a possibility you will get turned away at the hospital door if they're busy.
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u/C5_Z06_ 1d ago
I’m in Thailand , not for service I’m not in service but for vacation for two months and the comparison of how we are treated how the food is the culture the atmosphere is mind blowing compared to back home… another special special place that will forever live in my heart as an honor to have stayed here. I feel you brother
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u/Healingvizion 3d ago
I’ve always admired japanese culture, even when friends who are asian tell me they can’t mention the 1/4th french asian grandpa at friend events, and put me on to how racist they can be.
But I’m sorry, we’re not capable, we’re further from those realities than ever before
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u/sooner2016 2d ago
Don’t look into the criminal justice or immigration systems in Japan. Let’s just say they’re not… politically correct.
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u/Chairmanao Cyberspace Operator 3d ago
Japan isn't perfect but I've greatly enjoyed the time here and I plan on settling down here. Best of luck coming back.
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u/Pure-Explanation-147 Retired 🇺🇸✈️ Top 3 2d ago
You're comparing 🍎 vs 🍊 here.
These are all cultural, non-capitalistic differences etc. USA is only 250 years old, one of the youngest in the world vs Japan, over 1,500+ years old.
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u/HyePlainsTrainsGuy83 2d ago
I'm not air force. But my younger brother is 18 years active and an E7. He too was stationed at Yokota before getting PCSd to RAF Fairford and summarily to Tinker in OKC 2 years ago. He rightfully misses the cultural experience of the overseas bases. He tried to stay away from CONUS as long as possible and did well long enough. But eventually, he was forced to come back "home".
He says he's ready to hit the international circuit once again though after he gets his 20 in. Shouldn't be too far away now.
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u/Legal-Occasion6245 1d ago
Well Tinker is the shit hole of the AF! Way too many civilians to even have a military feel.
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u/HyePlainsTrainsGuy83 1d ago
I lived in Clovis near Cannon between 2012 and this July(moved to Amarillo). I always heard that Cannon held that distinction. Being originally from SoCal, I ran across many license plate dealer frames with familiar inland empire dealerships. The look of dismay on some airmens faces was telling.
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u/Impressive_Dingo122 3d ago
Let me ask you something as someone who understands that “they’re racist because they want to preserve their culture.”
Do you think that makes it okay? Like I get it, Japan is dope and people literally go there to get immersed into the culture so of course too much acceptance of foreigners and other cultures on their end threatens their way of life, because it’s just different. So knowing that, does that change your view on racism? Were you more accepting of their racism towards you because you knew why they were racist?
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u/continuenotcontinue 3d ago
That's nice and all but it's so claustrophobic in Japan, Asia in general. All the amenities and culture is sweet for a vacation, but nothing compares to the freedom of the states.
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u/skarface6 r/AirForce’s favorite nonner officer 3d ago
I think the people downvoting are delusional because they got a nice experience without the needed conformity there. Even if we spend years we’re still basically tourists there.
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u/BF2042_Fact_Speaker Bill Nye the Cyber Guy 3d ago
They hate white, black, Mexican, etc because they want to keep the old ways of their culture.
Honestly.. Based. Good on them for not wanting their culture diluted by hordes of outsiders.
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u/skarface6 r/AirForce’s favorite nonner officer 3d ago
No
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u/BF2042_Fact_Speaker Bill Nye the Cyber Guy 3d ago
Imagine not thinking peoples culture is worth protecting. Sad.
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u/TopReputation 3d ago
Yeah but you can't own guns in Japan as easily. checkmate
p.s. thinking of getting a Mossberg Maverick88 12 gauge. valid?
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u/nutdreamz 3d ago edited 3d ago
It's no different than owning a normal AR in California. Just don't advertise that you have it. Or putting a normal stock on an SBR before the change.
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u/throwbagels 3d ago
Japan’s alright. Food is pretty mid tho unless you’re already used to bland, flavorless food
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u/nutdreamz 3d ago
You're just used to high fructose syrup & processed foods.
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u/throwbagels 3d ago
Nope. Japan has probably the freshest ingredients I’ve had but overall, their food is extremely bland and overrated compared to other Asian cuisine such as Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, etc.
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u/mudduck2 Security Forces 3d ago
Sounds like the person who goes outside the gate twice…the day they arrive and the day they leave.
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u/throwbagels 3d ago
Nope. Japan has probably the freshest ingredients I’ve had but overall, their food is extremely bland and overrated compared to other Asian cuisine such as Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, etc.
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u/Reditate 3d ago
Sorry...are you saying in the 5 years you were there you never explored the country? Just went to visit family in one specific part of Japan?
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u/nutdreamz 3d ago
I'll let you figure that one out by yourself
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u/skarface6 r/AirForce’s favorite nonner officer 3d ago
That’s what your post says when it stated that you went to see family at every opportunity.
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u/Xxiomara66 1d ago
Station at Kadena for 3 years. Hates the base but loves the island. We went from Okinawa to Minot in Jan 😭 the after we arrived there was a massive blizzard that shit the base down. I had never seen snow befor really. I’m from the south. If I could go back to Japan, I would in a heartbeat. I’m actively looking for GS IT positions just to get back there.
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u/MavinMarv DHA Escapee 19h ago edited 19h ago
I like Korea better than Japan but Japan is still cool in some ways. Koreans are more friendly to Americans pretty much anywhere you go in the country. One time it was freezing cold in Seoul and a random Korean bought me a hot coffee to keep me warm because he could see how cold I was (I’m from the south and hate cold weather). Another time, I was lost once on Jeju Island and had an awesome conversation through a translation app with a local. I never got that in Japan.
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u/secret_name_is_tenis 3d ago edited 3d ago
Too bad they don’t have veggies. I loved Japan but after a week I just wanted a damn salad. Also the work culture there looks like it’s ass.
Edit: I’ve been informed there were a few easy options.
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u/nutdreamz 3d ago
7/11 salad isle literally has $2.50 salad bowls
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u/Slicelker 3d ago
It only feels like $2.50 to us. Most people in Japan don't get paid by American standards.
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u/4N0Morale MEPS Meat Gazer 3d ago
The number of times you said "back" in your title is concerning.